USER MANUAL
omega.x haptic device
version 1.7
06.2013
Force Dimension
Route de Saint-Cergue 295
CH – 1260 Nyon
Switzerland
www.forcedimension.com
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summary
The purpose of this document is
> to describe the setup of the omega.x haptic device
> to describe the installation of the drivers and haptic software SDK
> to describe the operation of the omega.x haptic device
glossary
FD-SDK refers to the Software Development Kit (SDK) for all Force Dimension products.
omega.x refers to the base haptic device shared by the omega.3, omega.6 and omega.7
haptic devices. Unless specified, all instructions in this manual apply to all three
device types.
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table of contents
1. device description 7
2. important safety instructions 8
3. setting up the omega.x 9
3.1 unpacking the device 9
3.2 installing the power supply 10
4. configuring the omega.x under Windows 11
4.1 installing the software 11
4.2 installation description 11
4.3 installing the drivers 11
5. configuring the omega.x under Linux 12
5.1 installing the software 12
5.2 installation description 12
5.3 installing the drivers 12
6. configuring the omega.x under Mac OS X 13
6.1 installing the software 13
6.2 installation description 13
6.3 installing the drivers 13
7. using the omega.x 14
7.1 device geometry 14
7.2 operating the omega.x 16
7.3 running the HapticDesk program 19
7.4 running the demonstrations programs 20
8. technical information 23
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1. device description
2 3
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2
1
5 8 9
1. base plate 8. status LED
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1
14 6
4
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2. control unit 9. force LED
3. arms 10. programmable button
4. end-effector 11. power switch
5. force button 12. power connector
6. calibration pole 13. USB connector
7. calibration pit 14. tightening knob
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2. important safety instructions
IMPORTANT
WHEN USING THIS UNIT, BASIC SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
SHOULD ALWAYS BE FOLLOWED TO REDUCE THE RISK
OF FIRE, ELECTRICAL SHOCK, OR PERSONAL INJURY.
1. read and understand all instructions
2. follow all warnings and instructions marked on this unit
3. do not use or place this system near water
4. place the unit securely on a stable surface
5. make sure that the workspace of the omega.x is free of objects
6. do not overload wall outlets and extension cords
this can result in a risk of fire or electrical shock
7. switch off the omega.x when it is not in use
8. to reduce the risk of electrical shock, do not disassemble the omega.x
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3. setting up the omega.x
IMPORTANT
PLEASE KEEP THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING
ONLY USE THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING FOR STORING OR SHIPPING
3.1 unpacking the device
Before unpacking the device, remove the device stabilizer and the accessories box from within
the box. Carefully remove the device and the end-effector stabilizer from the box, then remove
the end-effector stabilizer.
device stabilizer
end-effector stabilizer
figure 1 – omega.x shipping box and accessories box
The accessories box contains the power and data cables, as well as the driver and SDK installation media.
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3.2 installing the power supply
Plug the power supply into the power connector. The system supports either 110/120 Volts or
220/230 Volts. Only use the Force Dimension power supply that came with your device. Replacement power supplies can be ordered from Force Dimension.
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4. configuring the omega.x under Windows
4.1 installing the software
The installation USB drive must be installed onto your system before connecting the omega.x to
the system. To do this, perform the following steps.
1. plug the Force Dimension USB drive into your system
2. open the \Windows subfolder on the USB drive
3. run setup.exe icon to launch the installation program
4. follow the instructions given by the installation program
4.2 installation descriptio
The installation program creates the following subfolders in :
C:\Program Files\Force Dimension\sdk-<version>
\bin subfolder
This directory contains the demonstration executables and the DLL files required to run the
omega.x software. The required DLL files are also copied to the Windows system folder during
the installation.
\drivers subfolder
This directory contains the USB and PCI drivers required to operate your device.
\examples subfolder
This directory contains the demonstration programs. Example applications described in section
7.4 and come with their full source code.
\doc subfolder
All documentation files and notices are located in that directory.
\manuals subfolder
All hardware user manuals are located in that directory.
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\lib,\include subfolders
These directories contain the files required to compile you application with the Force Dimension
SDK. Please refer to the on-line programming manual for more information.
4.3 installing the driver
USB drivers
The omega.x requires the Force Dimension USB driver. These drivers are installed automatically
and no additional step is required.
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5. configuring the omega.x under Linux
5.1 installing the software
The Force Dimension development folder must be installed onto your system before the omega.x
can be used. To do this, perform the following steps:
1. plug the Force Dimension USB drive into your system
2. decompress the sdk-<version>.tar.gz file from the drive \Linux subfolder to the de-
sired location (typically your home folder) by running the following command within the target folder:
tar –zxvf sdk-<version>.tar.gz
3. this will create a sdk-<version> development folder in the target location
5.2 installation descriptio
The development folder contains the following directories:
\bin subfolder
This directory contains the demonstration executables and the binary files required to run the
omega.x software.
\examples subfolder
This directory contains the demonstration programs. Example applications described in section
7.4 and come with their full source code.
\doc subfolder
All documentation files and notices are located in this subfolder.
\manuals subfolder
All hardware user manuals are located in that directory.
\lib,\include subfolders
These directories contain the files required to compile you application with the Force Dimension
SDK. Please refer to the on-line programming manual for more information.
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5.3 installing the driver
The Linux version of the Force Dimension SDK requires the development packages for the libusb-1.0 and freeglut to be installed on your Linux distribution.
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6. configuring the omega.x under Mac OS X
6.1 installing the software
The Force Dimension development folder must be installed onto your system before the omega.x
can be used. To do this, perform the following steps:
1. plug the Force Dimension USB drive into your system
2. open the sdk-<version>.dmg file from the drive \Mac OS subfolder and extract the sdk-
<version> folder to the desired location (typically your home folder)
3. this will create a sdk-<version> development folder in the target location
6.2 installation descriptio
The development folder contains the following directories:
\bin subfolder
This directory contains the demonstration executables and the binary files required to run the
omega.x software.
\examples subfolder
This directory contains the demonstration programs. Example applications described in section
7.4 and come with their full source code.
\doc subfolder
All documentation files and notices are located in this subfolder.
\manuals subfolder
All hardware user manuals are located in that directory.
\lib,\include subfolders
These directories contain the files required to compile you application with the Force Dimension
SDK. Please refer to the on-line programming manual for more information.
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6.3 installing the driver
The Apple version of the Force Dimension SDK uses Apple’s native USB drivers, which are included in Mac OS X 10.4 and higher. No further installation is required.
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7. using the omega.x
7.1 device geometry
omega.x translation axis
The position of the end-effector can be read from the controller. The system converts the encoder values into (X, Y, Z) coordinate, expressed in IUS (metric) unit. Figure 2 shows the coordinate system. The actual origin of the coordinates system (0,0,0) is located on a virtual point at
the center of the workspace. The calibration pit places the device at the (0.019, 0.0, - 0.074) location.
Z
Y
X
calibration coordinates
(0.019, 0.000, - 0.074)
figure 2 – coordinate system
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omega.6 and omega.7 extensions (optional)
The omega.6 and omega.7 provide a rotational structure. Rotation information can be retrieved
as a reference frame expressed by a 3x3 rotation matrix:
y
y
figure 3 – reference frame of the omega.6 and omega.7:
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7.2 operating the omega.x
status indicators
The status LED displays the status of the system.
> LED OFF the system is off
> LED ON the system is ready
> LED BLINKING (fast) the system requires calibration
> LED BLINKING (slow) the omega.6 extension requires calibration
While the status LED is ON, it is possible to read the position of the end-effector, but no forces
can be applied. Forces must be enabled by pressing the force button. When the forces are enabled, the force LED is turned ON. Forces can be disabled by pressing the force button again.
features
calibration – calibration is necessary to obtain accurate, reproducible localization of the end-
effector within the workspace of the device. The omega.x is designed in such a way that there
can be no drift of the calibration over time, so the procedure only needs to be performed once
when the device is powered on.
The calibration procedure consists in placing the calibration pole in the dedicated calibration
pit. The device detects when the calibration position is reached and the status LED stops blinking. Figure 4 illustrates the calibration procedure. After the initial calibration described above,
the LED will stop blinking (omega.3).
figure 4 – calibration procedure
On the omega.6 and omega.7 (optional), the LED will blink at a slower frequency, indicating that
the rotational structure is usable but not fully calibrated. To fully calibrate the omega.6 and
omega.7 extensions, each of the three rotation axis and the grasping axis of the omega.7 must
be moved by hand to their respective end-stops once. When the device has reached all end
stops, the LED stops blinking and the device is fully calibrated.
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gravity compensation – to prevent user fatigue and to increase accuracy during manipulation,
the omega.x features gravity compensation. When gravity compensation is enabled, the weights
of the arms and of the end-effector are taken into account and a vertical force is dynamically applied to the end-effector on top of the user command. Please note that gravity compensation is
computed on the host computer, and therefore it only gets updated whenever a force command
is sent to the device by the application. Gravity compensation is enabled by default and can be
disabled via the Force Dimension SDK.
forces - by default, when an application opens a connection to the device, the forces are dis-
abled. Forces can be enabled or disabled at any time by pressing the force button.
brakes – the device feature electromagnetic brakes that can be enabled via software. The brakes
are on by default when the forces are disabled, and can be enabled automatically by the control
unit in some cases. When the brakes are on, a viscous force is created that prevents rapid
movement of the end-effector. Also, enabling the brakes via the Force Dimension SDK simultaneously disables the forces.
end-effector tightening knob (omega.3) – the orientation of the end-effector can be adjusted by
means of the tightening knob.
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safety features
The omega.x features several safety features designed to prevent uncontrolled application of
forces and possible damage to the device. These safety features can be adjusted or disabled via
a protected command in the Force Dimension SDK.
IMPORTANT
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE WARRANTY MAY NOT APPLY
IF THE SAFETY FEATURES HAVE BEEN OVERRIDEN.
When a connection to the device is made from the computer, the forces are automatically disabled to avoid unexpected behaviors. The user must press the force button to enable the forces.
This feature cannot be disabled.
If the control unit detects that the velocity of the end-effector is higher than the programmed
security limit, the forces are automatically disabled and the device brakes are engaged to prevent a possibly dangerous acceleration from the device. This velocity threshold can be adjusted
or removed via the Force Dimension SDK. Please refer to the on-line programming manual for
more information.
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7.3 running the HapticDesk program
Under Windows, the HapticDesk is available as a test and diagnostic program.
HapticDesk allows the programmer to:
> list all Force Dimension haptic devices connected to the system
> test each device position reading
> test each device force/torque capability
> test each device auto-calibration procedure
> read each device status
> read any device encoder individually
figure 5 – HapticDesk test and diagnostic program
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7.4 running the demonstrations programs
Two demonstration programs can also be used to diagnose the device. The source code and an
executable file for each of the demonstration programs are provided in two separate directories
named \gravity and \torus.
Once the system is setup, we suggest running gravity to check that everything is working
properly and to evaluate your system's performance independently of the graphics rendering
performance. torus will allow you to test the combined performance of haptics and graphics
rendering.
gravity example
This example program runs a best effort haptic loop to compensate for gravity. The appropriate
forces are applied at any point in space to balance the device end-effector so that it is safe to let
go of it. The refresh rate of the haptic loop is displayed in the console every second.
figure 6 – gravity example
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torus example
The torus example displays an OpenGL scene that can be haptically explored.
figure 7 – torus example
note – OpenGL and the OpenGL Utility Toolkit (GLUT) must be installed for your compiler and
development environment to compile this example. Please refer to your compiler documentation
for more information, or consult http://www.opengl.org/resources/libraries/glut.html
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8. technical information
omega.3
workspace translation ∅ 160 mm x L 110mm
forces continuous 12.0 N
resolution linear < 0.01 mm
stiffness closed loop 14.5 N/mm
dimensions height 270 mm
width 300 mm
depth 350 mm
interface standard USB 2.0
rate up to 4 KHz
power universal 100V - 240V
calibration automatic
driftless
structure delta-based parallel kinematics
active gravity compensation
user input 1 programmable button
safety velocity monitoring
electromagnetic damping
omega.6 extension
workspace rotation 240 x 140 x 320 deg
resolution angular 0.09 deg
option available for right or left hand
user input 1 programmable button
omega.7 extension
workspace rotation 240 x 140 x 180 deg
gripper 25 mm
force continuous ± 8 N
resolution angular 0.09 deg
linear 0.006 mm
option available for right or left hand
software
OS Microsoft Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
Windows CE 7
Linux kernel 2.6 / 3.x
Apple OS X 10.8 / 10.9
QNX Neutrino 6.5
WindRiver VxWorks 6.3 / 6.9
SDK haptic SDK
robotic SDK
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notice
The information in this document is provided for reference only. Force Dimension does not assume any
liability arising out of the application or use of the information or product described herein. This document
may contain or reference information and products protected by copyrights or patents and does not convey
any license under the patent rights of Force Dimension, nor the rights of others.
All trademarks or trade names are properties of their respective owners.
© Copyright 2013 – Force Dimension
All rights reserved.
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